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How To Launch And Sell Out A Conference In Five Weeks

That’s the advice we heard time and time again after beginning our work on CMX Summit, a conference for the fast-growing community industry. People were skeptical that we could organize and sell out a new, 300-person conference in five weeks.

With more than a few late nights, and the support of a lot of people to whom we are eternally grateful, we succeeded — but not without making a few mistakes along the way. Knowing what we know now, we wanted to share the lessons we’ve learned with those of you thinking about starting your own conference.

Create a One-Pager on Your “Why”

As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t care about what you do, they care about why you do it.” We believe communities give people a sense of belonging and meaning. Our vision for the conference was to empower the world’s community professionals to build better, stronger communities by bringing them together in one powerful event.

So the very first thing we did was write one page about why we were building CMX Summit and why we believe community is a solution to many of the world’s challenges.

When we pitched our first speakers, we sent them that page. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Even if they couldn’t make it, they expressed their support for the vision and asked to be kept in the loop for future events.

Focus on High-Quality Content

We knew from the start that if CMX was going to be successful, we had to secure top-notch speakers. Our opening keynote speaker was Robin Dreeke, Head of Behavioral Analysis for the FBI.

We got a lot of feedback on the event after it was over. Not all of it was positive, but almost every single attendee sang praises for the speakers that took the stage — so much so that over 96% said they plan to attend the next CMX.

If you focus on creating exceptional content, everything else will start to fall into place. Don’t be afraid to shoot for the stars and don’t let sponsors pay for speaking spots. Your stage is sacred ground.

Piece It Together as You Go

If you’re going to build a conference in five weeks, you can’t wait to have all the pieces in place before getting started. A week after deciding to do the conference, we announced it to the world. Then we just started plugging in the logistics and paying down payments as soon as we sold enough tickets to afford them.

It can be tempting to try to get all the pieces in place before announcing your event, which is why it takes people four months to put a conference together. Just put up an event page (we use Eventbrite and the Fudge WordPress theme) and start selling tickets.

Partner With Other Communities and Networks to Sell Tickets

We sold the most tickets by working with existing communities and networks. In short, we offered them custom discounts to share with their lists, so that they looked good for bringing their community discounts — and we got to reach new audiences.

Start by forming a list of all of the existing websites, email lists, blogs, communities, meetups and anywhere else where your target attendees might spend time. Then reach out to the owners of those networks and offer a discount. For better results, you can also offer them a complimentary pass for being a “promotional partner.”

Pushing promotions like this into a short sprint leading up to the event can be an advantage: Attendees will constantly hear about the conference from different channels, giving them the perception that it’s a popular event they won’t want to miss.

Build a Team With Complementary Skills

Find the ying to your yang. Neither of us could’ve organized this event ourselves, but together we had all the necessary skill sets to make it a huge success. We each did what we’re good at — one focused on sales/biz dev and logistics and the other focused on content, promotion and branding.

There’s a lot of advice out there for finding the perfect cofounder. For us, we were just good friends who both got excited about an opportunity. If you don’t have a friend that would make a good cofounder, get networking. The best cofounders are usually people you already know and trust.

Think Through the Long-Term Experience

It’s easy to get lost in the details of the day and forget about what happens after. But all of the talks at CMX — everything from the topics, to the stage setup, to the livestream — were thought out with the future in mind. We knew we weren’t setting out to build a small event, but a movement.

Before you plan your event, ask yourself a few questions like:

Are you building an event that comes to every city or are a larger event where people will fly out? Are you building TEDx or TED?

Is it important that attendees continue to interact after the event?

Do you want the content from the event to be widely accessible or exclusive?

Go for Greatness, Not Perfection

Perfection is impossible. One look at our survey responses and you’ll see that it’s impossible to please everyone. One thing that someone loved, another hated.

Don’t shoot for perfection. Things will go wrong. People will have complaints. But if you make it an experience to remember, you’ll succeed. That experience is accomplished by curating high-quality speakers and attendees. Get the people right and they’ll never forget it.

Just Do It!

Your only real failure is inaction. David had been dreaming up this event for years but hadn’t felt like it was the right time. Max just threw a similar event in the sales space by himself and convinced David that it could be done. We were both working on other projects while throwing this event, but we seized the opportunity and just went for it.

Ultimately, there is never going to be the perfect time to act. Why not today?

This article is coauthored by David Spinks and Max Altschuler, cofounders of CMX Summit, the home for the world’s leading community builders.

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